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Julianna Peña | Built Through Adversity
Women's Bantamweight Champion Julianna Peña Is Ready To Defend Her Belt As She Takes On Kayla Harrison At UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs O'Malley 2 On June 7 In Newark, NJ
If there’s been a prevailing theme in the lead-up to Saturday’s clash for the women’s bantamweight title, it’s that the champion, Julianna Pena, is tougher than most on fight night.
Julianna Peña Fight Week Interview | UFC 316
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Julianna Peña Fight Week Interview | UFC 316
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Win, lose or draw, expect the Spokane native to be there until the end, and that’s not something she picked up over the years.
She was born this way.
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“When I used to get beat up by my brother and sisters, I was always the last man standing,” said Pena, who defends her title against Kayla Harrison in the UFC 316 co-main event in Newark’s Prudential Center. “I was always the one that could take the biggest beating. And my brother, he particularly liked to fight me the most because he knew that I wasn't going to stop. And he knew that I wasn't going to start crying and tell on him to my mom, and he knew that I was going to fight ‘til I die. And I think it was just beaten into me instinctually as a kid. So I don't know any other way. I don't know quit, I don't know give up. And I have been fighting the best of the best from the very beginning and always in the top five and always in the top three and always the top one or two.”
As Muhammad Ali once said, “It ain’t braggin’ if you’re telling the truth,” and the 35-year-old Pena talks about the idea of grit and toughness in a matter-of-fact fashion because she knows it’s true. It’s an important weapon to have in your back pocket, knowing that if a fight starts out poorly, you’ve got that little something extra that will keep you in that fight until you can turn things around. We’ve seen it time and time again from the two-time champ, and she is expected to need it again this weekend in the Garden State because, well, Harrison is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, one of the most skilled and punishing grapplers in the world, and a favorite going into her first UFC title fight.
Pena’s heard it all, and frankly, she doesn’t give a damn.
“I'm always the underdog,” she said. “That's just the nature of the beast when it comes to people fighting me. I don't know what it is. That's okay, though. I love nothing more than to ruinpeople's nights. So I'm dreaming about the sound of silence going through the crowd when I do it again.”
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Remember, Pena was a prohibitive underdog the first time she fought the G.O.A.T. of women’s combat sports, Amanda Nunes, in December of 2021. Eight minutes and 26 seconds later, she won the bantamweight title for the first time by submitting “The Lioness.” Now, it’s the same thing, but she’s really not bothered by what the oddsmakers are saying.
“I am so bad with betting,” she laughs. “Underdogs, favorites, money lines and all that stuff. You might as well be speaking a different language to me. So I just need to focus on what I know I can do and that is going to work and doing my job. And all the underdogs and the favorites and all that stuff, it doesn't matter to me. I didn't quite understand the scope of what they were telling me when they were saying that I was an 11 to 1 underdog. And quite frankly, I didn't want to hear it, and I don't want to hear it now because it means nothing. I love being the underdog. I love that title because it means that I'm in a win-win position. Either way, you're not expecting me to win. And if I win, then I was the underdog and I came up from behind. So it's a win-win position for me, and it makes me feel that I am fighting with a lot less pressure than I would if I was a favorite, because if I'm a favorite, you should win and you better win and the pressure is on. But as an underdog, it's like you could win and it puts the excitement back inside of the idea that I could win and it's up to me to go out there and go and get it. So I don't have any pressure as the underdog. I think she probably feels more of the pressure as the favorite because then she feels ‘I have to do this,’ and then that's when usually they cave.”
It's what Pena is always counting on, that if she can’t get an opponent early, eventually they’ll fade down the stretch and she’ll get them then. It’s a champion’s mindset but, more importantly, it’s a fighter’s mindset. And despite her underdog status now, she’s been the favorite before, and she knows the perils that come with that role.
“That's a fighter's life,” she said. “You win some, you lose some, some days you're on top of the world and the next day the world's on top of you. So you can't get too cocky out there because they say that there's always a dog bigger and badder and better than you are. But, at the end of the day, I don't look at her (Harrison) as some big unbeatable force. I look at her as a big force quite literally. But it doesn't mean that it can't be done. And I've seen her bleed. I've seen her lose. I've seen her win. So it's anybody's game. Once that cage door closes, it's up for grabs and it's going to come down to who wants it.”
Julianna Peña Sit-Down Interview | UFC 316
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Julianna Peña Sit-Down Interview | UFC 316
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Pena always wants it more, and that was evident when she rallied down the stretch to beat Raquel Pennington last October to regain her crown. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t going to make highlight reels, but it was a win, and that’s all that matters. As for the second reign thus far, Pena admits that it's a little different than the first time around.
UFC FIGHT WEEK INTERVIEWS: Julianna Peña | Kayla Harrison
“I think the first time was a lot better because she (Nunes) was such a reigning champ for so long,” she said. “And with this one, the (presidential) elections came up in November, I won in October, so that kind of stole the limelight. And then the New Year hit, and I was already right back into fight camp for my next one. So I didn't get the ticker tape parade that I quite got when I won and beat Amanda the first time. But I just care more about being a good person and doing right by my daughter and my loved ones than I do about being a champion when I die. It's not like you can take it to heaven with you. So I just want to focus on being a good person. And if I get a belt at the end of the day, then that's just the cherry on top. But I know that I'm a champion in my heart and in my mind, and the belt is just a little tangible thing that you can put your hands on. But I'll always be a champ, no matter what.”
Belt or no belt, Pena intends on proving that this weekend, and – surprise, surprise – she’s willing to go into some dark places to bring that belt back home to Chicago. If that means, weathering some early storms and perhaps dropping a round or two to Harrison, so be it.
“Yeah, pretty much,” she laughs. “I don't even think real dogs have more dog in them than I do. And with that being said, I don't think in the history of any of my fights I've ever won the first round. So, for me it's like, all right, are you confident that you can listen to your corners to keep you safe for the first round? Okay, cool, then f**k it, you lost the first round. What about the second round? Are you okay with being able to get put on your back and her trying to grind you out for a second round? Sure, no problem. I know my corners and me are well enough equipped to stay safe and stay alive. Now we're going into round three and it's a different fight. In round three, everything slows down, everything becomes a lot more labored. And that's when I'm just turning on my reserves and when I'm just turning on the engine, and that's when I'm at my best. So I'm just getting warmed up in those later rounds. And that's exactly how this fight is going to be won. It's going to be taking her out into deep water. And when she's sucking Wheaties, that's when I'll take over.”
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She means it. She’s proven it before. And here we are again, with this underdog ready to bite back.
“I've been in there with absolute monsters,” said Pena. “I've experienced what 25 minutes of a hellacious beating is like. And when you've been that traumatized before, you know that you could literally get in there with the Hulk himself and you'll be just fine. And so, for me, I don't have a give-up button, and I find peace in the fact that everything bad that could possibly happen to me has already happened. So there's nothing left. All my fears, my doubts, my anxieties, I lay those at the foot of the cross. I say a prayer, I hope for the best, I prepare for the worst and I'm just ready to go get in there and do my job. And when you put in that much mat time, when you put in that much hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, that gives you the confidence to just get in there with anybody. And it doesn't matter the size, it doesn't matter the experience, it doesn't matter anything. It's a fistfight in a steel cage. And you can't make it much more difficult than that.”
UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs O'Malley 2 took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 7, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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